Grounds for Interrogration before TDC?
 

I was at MCO this morning, and noticed something that I have never seen. Two & Three stripe clerks were wandering through the lines of pax waiting for the TDC, questioning them about the trips... From what I heard, they were asking questions about destinations, who they were visiting, etc... Do we still have the ability to refuse these questions as we have not entered the checkpoint, or will we run into the same clerk that last night told me that we have no rights?

Perhaps this story will give you some insight on how TSA terrorizes people.

Yes.

Maybe.

SPOTS..................just tell them to shove off. Trying to be polite:)

Try to be polite? I don't know if that is possible :eek: :D ;)


Seemed like all of the pax they were "targeting" were happy to comply.. Some of them did seem a little confused when they were being questioned.

While there is no such thing as 100% I've said over & over let the dogs do their job. While I hate to agree with this idiot Pissy he most likely has a point on the dogs.

It only happened to me once; I had time to spare, so I had fun with it. He came up with his partner nearby but pretending not to listen. He asked me how I was and I said "fine". Then he asked me for my BP and I gave it to him. He asked why I was going to Chicago. I got fed up and replied: "See spot; see spot run; go spot; go spot go . . . bother another passenger". The look was priceless. I was given SSSS treatment and filed a complaint.

I wish I could have been there for that "incident" :D

It might have been too cold for them to go on patrol in the parking garage.

It was raining pretty hard.. Maybe they melt

It was not so much fun having a pat down, enjoying 15+ minutes of swabbing, enduring a lecture on jokes at the security checkpoint and having my information being recorded by the TDC upon instruction from the BDO that was pretending not to listen to our conversation. God bless the Passport Card (I didn't want to use the NEXUS card in this case).

I think it was worth it-- he was very put-off. VERY put-off. Looked like no one had ever stood up to him before and he was like a deer in headlights.

Here's my take on TSA interrogation of pax - it's what a lot of us on FT have suggested is needed, Israeli-style security tactics, interviews, bomb sniffing dogs & profiling. Unfortunately I don't think our current TSA are qualified or trained in effective interrogation, but I think it's a step in the right direction. Frankly I would rather answer their questions than submit to NoS or molestation.

Just answer with, "It's SSI." :D

I wouldn't mind answering questions, but how do we know that they're not asking these questions in order to find out the information they need to deliberately make us late or miss a flight altogether? You know, "Do you want to fly today?" I recall reading threads where posters felt they were being asked the time of their flight so the TSA would be able to use that to bully "problem" passengers who opted out.

They think we're all terrorists and don't trust us. We don't trust them. This is NOT the way things should be!

'Ich bin Ausländerin. Nichts verstehen'.

Another key difference is the entire nature of the conversation. In an Israeli-style security interview, I understand the nature of the interaction: the interviewer/interrogator openly views me as a threat, until such time as I demonstrate to him/her that I am not a threat. In a BDO interview, the BDO rarely identifies him/herself as such, and their "chummy" attitude towards me is nothing more than an act to get me to reveal something accidentally.